Has Change really come to Bihar?

The man who wrote two of the 20th century's greatest novels, Animal Farm and 1984, was born in Motihari. But few come to the sleepy Bihar town seeking George Orwell... Archana Masih travelled to Motihari recently. George Orwell was splashed with the colour pink on Holi. A few days later, it had turned a few shades lighter, streaks of which ran down his white coat-brown tie wearing bust behind an easy to dismantle wall in Motihari, Bihar. "They were even trying to make him drink country ...

'His image may have gone down a little because he is talking about poverty and underdeveloped states. That is not the way to sell yourself nationally,' Bihar's best known economist and social scientist Dr Shaibal Gupta tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih. For the first time, the chief minister of an under-developed state, who also has a better image, is claiming better devolution of resources from the Centre, feels Dr Shaibal Gupta, head of the Asian Development Research Institute in Patna. Dr ...

A young girl wants to correct her father's name in her school certificate; a man wants his three year unpaid rent from a government doctor, an athlete wants an archery set... Scenes from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Darbar, recorded by Rediff.com's Archana Masih. Amidst the wide roads and big bungalows that rival Lutyens' Delhi is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence. His neighbour is his political rival Lalu Prasad Yadav; while a short walk away is the stately ...

A new house, an inverter for electricity and a scooty are the material things Sushil Kumar has acquired from his prize money. But what he misses most is his cycle. Archana Masih meets the first winner of Rs 5 crores on KBC at his home in Motihari, North Bihar. "I can show you the way to Sushil Kumar's home," says Aditya Ashok, whom I met in Motihari, North Bihar, and had marveled that he lives in the same house where Eric Blair -- later renowned as the author of Animal Farm and 1984, George ...